


Escape

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Caretaking, Closets, Comfort, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Hiding, Making Out, Starcrossed Lovers, Supportive Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 20:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10815984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: Post-Framework story. Inspired by the Alina Baraz & Galimatias song Fantasy.





	Escape

**Author's Note:**

> So you say you wanna get away  
> We don’t need a plane  
> I could be your escape  
> Take you to a place  
> Where there’s no time, no space  
> I could be your private island  
> On a different planet  
> Anything could happen  
> Listen to the waves  
> Let them wash away your pain

Daisy, he realizes, is like an island.

In the middle of the chaos, she's there. And no matter the confusion, or feelings of distress, she's there.

It's where he can go to see clearly again.

It was there while she was gone, too. Or he was constantly aware of it. Even with distance between them.

It was there in the Framework, under layers of programming.

An awkward admission for him to make, because, surely he's always tried to define their relationship in the most appropriate terms he can think of.

This is not one of them, however.

He's not the sort of guy that can feign ignorance of something once he knows.

It's not a kind of idolizing her, as if she were something magnificent and brighter and more beautiful to be adulated.

Well, she is all those things.

But she's not distant.

Not anymore.

He watches her now, amid the chaos of the base and he wonders if she's okay.

Daisy has been taking care of everyone else, pulling the team out of the Framework. Stopping Aida and Watchdogs.

Has anyone tried to take care of her?

He's always wanted others to see her the right way, and he sees her look about herself to make sure she's being ignored, and begin to retreat.

As the agents move past them and between them, he follows her into the hallway, into the small room that's not really meant for people.

She's used to those kind of spaces. Making herself small, even when she's too noticeable to be forgotten.

Her eyes meet his, quietly, in the dim light. She puts her hand up to her mouth, trying to hold it in.

The fabric of his shirt dampens as she presses her face against his shoulder when he beckons, body shaking with quiet sobs.

It makes him sigh, he wishes he could do more, that he could be an island for her.

"You did so much, Daisy," he tells her, his mouth against her hair, breathing the acrid smell from the battle still scenting it.

Her fingers twist into his shirt and she lets out a little sob that tugs at his heart. Like she won't subject him to this.

It's amazing that he can still feel this. After everything they've been through.

He's so grateful for her.

The gestures that he's made in the past, his attempts to be appropriately grateful, suddenly don't seem like enough.

He hated how easy it was for him to be so passive in the Framework. That she had to wake him up.

"Daisy."

She sniffles a little and cocks her head to look up at him, licking at her lips to wipe the tears away.

"I want to do something for you."

"What?" she asks, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Something...nice," he tells her, trying to find the words. "It won't ever be enough, but, you deserve someone to do something nice for you. For saving the whole world."

Her eyes flicker away from him at that, like it's such an embarrassing thing to hear.

It's true, though.

"I-" she starts, then stops, clearly unused to the gesture, as he thought she might be. "Um...the hug was nice?"

He smiles at her, and presses his fingers against her shoulder.

"I missed that, too."

They hug again, this time more gently, less frantically, like she's not trying to share the weight of the world on her shoulders now.

Her fingers slide down the front of his shirt, finding the vee of the neckline, and his breath catches when her skin makes contact with his.

It doesn't feel intentional, he doesn't think, just a natural motion, and he lets the air from his lungs, puts his hand against her elbow.

"Thanks," she tells him, starting to pull away, her voice sounding too grateful for such a small thing.

"Daisy," he says, holding onto to her lightly. "Please."

She lets her eyes search his face, like she's thinking, remembering. "I couldn't lose you. I tried to do the right thing. What you would-"

"I felt it every day for six months."

"I'm sorry," she answers, and starts to tear up again, try to cover her face.

"No, don't apologize. You...you're like this place. That's safe and constant and right. No matter what is going on around me, I-"

Her eyes have gone absolutely wide, and he wonders if he's said the wrong thing after all, so he stops talking.

"What else?" she asks, looking at his mouth then back up at his eyes with a demanding stare.

"I don't know," he huffs, starting to fumble for words, feeling himself flush and unable to do anything for it. "And warm. It's like I can escape there, if I only think of you."

"I think I know what I want," she nods, moving closer against him, her hand back on his chest, sliding upward until her fingers are against the hairs on the back of his neck.

His eyes close when he feels her lips press against his, mouth warm and inviting, calling him out, everything he's pushed down.

When he kisses back, she pulls him tighter, so that he stumbles up against her to take her in his arms, and he realizes, the distance between them is gone.

They're here, together, and everything else has faded away. They're in a place that no one can touch.

Together.

She breaks the kiss to just be able to breathe again, and presses her forehead against his.

"That was nice," she says with a smile, holding onto the front of his shirt to anchor herself.

He puts his thumb under her chin, and tips her head up to kiss her again, slowly, and feels a happy groan pass from her to him.

There's commotion gathering in the hall beyond them, and she kisses him harder, possessively.

Not ready for them to leave this place.

Not just yet.


End file.
